Several patient groups suffer from pain which can be acute or chronic. Patients with acute pain are those who suffered burns that need to be dressed, or those who have had recent surgery (such as implant for shoulder or hip). Other patients with chronic pain are those post-traumatic brain injury, or with cancer, or with arthritis. If chronic pain is not treated it can lead to depression and worsening of overall health.
Several approaches exist to mitigating pain. Traditional approaches are medication (opioids such a morphine) or psychological coaching. Virtual reality has been used recently to treat pain by providing a distraction. If the pain sensation is not perceived because the centers in the brain are distracted, then the effect of pain is diminished.
Virtual reality to treat pain has been used in the form of specially-designed games, which are presented to the patients in stereo on head-mounted displays. In the case of the “SnowWorld” system developed by Hunter Hoffman (U. Washington) for alleviating pain during burn dressing, the scene is “cold” through the use of shades of blue and depiction of snow and snowmen. This, together with a pleasant music the patient hears, is designed to “cool” and calm the patient. Virtual reality for arthritic pain was designed to “warm” the patient, so shades of red were used. FIG. 1 illustrates a Virtual Reality scene from “SnowWorld” therapeutic game (Hunter Hoffman).
The degree of pain (pain index) the patient feels has been traditionally measured through pencil-and paper methods (subjective questionnaires), and more recently through bio-measures (skin sweat, pulse, respiration rhythm or volume).